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Joint Investment for IKIA Terminal 2

A Chinese finance company called SCE Property Holdings Limited, a French company called Lyon Airport Company (CSCDC) and the Iranian Sana Pardakht Aras Co. are to make a joint investment to begin construction of the second phase of Imam Khomeini International Airport (IKIA), said Majid Javdani, the managing director of an investment company, IRNA reported on Saturday without identifying the name of the investment company.

The project “needs to be authorized by the main contractor, Iran Airport Holding Company,” an entity in charge of handling civil air projects nationwide, he said.

IKIA is the main international airport of Iran, operated by the Iranian Airports Holding Company. The airport is the home base of many Iranian airlines. As of August 2014, the airport serves more than 40 airlines operating over 700 of weekly flights connecting Tehran to cities in over 30 countries and territories worldwide.

“Studies are underway for construction of a [new] passenger terminal in IKIA, which is expected to have annual handling capacity of 20 million passengers,” Javdani said.

The current passenger terminal at the Imam Khomeini Airport has a total annual handling capacity of 6.5 million and 120,000 tons of cargo. Terminal 2, the Pilgrimage Terminal, is under construction.

In 2013, the airport handled nearly 5 million passengers, showing a 1% increase compared to 2012. The airport is said to be the eleventh busiest airport by international passenger traffic in the Middle East. In addition to being an important passenger hub, the airport is also one of the busiest cargo airports in the region, handling nearly 99,000 tons of cargo in 2013.

“The new project is to be financed by the Chinese company. The French Lyon Airport Company will be in charge of the construction and the Sana Pardakht Aras is tasked with supervising the capital management,” the official said.

Javdani said the French company is also set to construct an air port city in the Aras Free Trade Zone. “We are still trying to attract foreign investors for this project.”